HELLO OFFICER

Still waiting the arrival of our baby girl - have you made your prediction yet? - I have been spending the morning hours (before Lori is up and able to face another day of lugging around a basketball-belly) by reading my news feeds and checking my new favorite social network - facebook.This morning, while reading through my 120+ subscriptions, I came across a great article that I felt was worth sharing. It seems that the Thai police, in an effort to curb more serious offenses such as abuse of power, illegal bribes and mistreatment of the public have decided to crack down on the policemen who commit minor offenses such as littering, parking in illegal zones and tardiness.

The punishment? The offending officer will be required to wear an armband depicting the schoolgirl icon "HELLO KITTY" for an entire day.

"Simple warnings no longer work. This new twist is expected to make them feel guilt and shame and prevent them from repeating the offense, no matter how minor," said Pongpat, acting chief of the Crime Suppression Division in Bangkok.

"(Hello) Kitty is a cute icon for young girls. It's not something macho police officers want covering their biceps," Pongpat said.Full Story (Yahoo)

The punishment is "in-house" only, as officers will not be required to wear the armbands in public, but as we all learned as children peer pressure can be a powerful motivator... I think the measure will be effective.